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I almost stopped driving my 87 Ranger 2.9 Xcab 4wd completely at the beginning of 06 when I bought a new 05 Dodge SRT-4(neon base), but had to sell the SRT-4 last year because of getting divorced(she took all my money and pretty much everything else). Now I'm ready to give my faithful old truck all the attention it deserves. Right now I'm doing some basic things like replacing the timing gears and chain as it's needed that for a while, replacing the catylitic converter and the wheel cylinders just to get it back on the road and running right. Next will be taking off the cab and bed for a tiny bit of body work(cab only, the bed has no dents and only surface rust which is due to the guy I bought it from who primed it and did'nt use epoxy as we agreed on and used some cheap regular primer), a fresh coat of the factory red it came in( I may not even use base/clear just so I can have it like it was when it rolled off the line), replacing all the rubber under it and around the windows and finally a remanned engine when this one decides to quit on me. It has 180,000 miles on it and still runs great except for power loss from a stopped up cat. I will be putting the factory 60/40 split seats(almost mint) back in it and taking the buckets out that I learned how to replace on here and would like to put a new dash in it since the original is cracked in places. The tranny has less than 6,000 miles on it since it was completely rebuilt several years ago and shifts like new. This will be a project that me and my 9 yr old son will be doing together because he loves the truck and I only recently got physical custody of him from my ex wife who was letting her live in boyfriend abuse my son, both physically and mentally. My son would never tell me where all the strange bruises on his arms and legs that looked strangely like finger tips were coming from and I finally had a meeting with his school guidance counselor to tell her my concerns after I had called Social Services and told them my suspicions and they did absolutely nothing. Did'nt even go look at or talk to my son to see if he was ok. About a month ago I guess my son was tired of being hurt and too scared to tell anyone and went to his guidance counselor on a Thursday morning and showed her a big scratch and bruise under his arm and told her my wife's boyfriend had done it the night before. I know it was'nt there up untill 8pm the day before because he had been with me up to then and I had helped him dry off after his shower before I had to take him back to his mom(I got him every Wednesday and every other weekend in our custody agreement). The school called Social Services and they came to see my son and check over him while he was still in school. According to our custody agreement one provision I had petitioned the court to have included was no overnight unrelated "guests", male or female so it applied to both of us had been broken on several occasions within about two months of our seperation in October 2010 and was completely ignored starting May 1,2011 when she moved to another city almost an hour away and moved the guy in with them. I went to my lawyer and spoke to her about and and she said there was no reason to take it to court because the judge would'nt even give my ex a slap on the wrist. Well, my ex actually took the blame for the bruise that got Social Services called, but they did'nt believe her and while their investigation is going on for the next 45 days, the guy is'nt allowed to be anywhere near my son. I've had physical custody for two weeks now and I can't believe the things my son tells me from the time I get him home from school untill he goes to bed that the guy was doing to him and my ex stood there and let it happen. I will be filing criminal charges soon and will have either a Protective Order or a Restraining Order filed against the guy before the 45 day investigation is over. I have a very close friend who is an ex police officer and now works for a victims advocate group that has gotten my son in to see a child psychologist this week and am waiting on the psychologist's assesment and advisement to my friend as to which charges to file. I'm thinking that the state will pick up filing the charges once my friend gives them his report. The guy is lucky to still be walking around, but if I were to do something to him(no matter how much he deserves it), I would ruin everything for my son and I and he would probably end up back with his mother. So all I can do is listen to my son and let him tell me everything he was scared to tell me for the last year and reassure him that he will never have to worry about that again, because him living with me, being with me every day, feeling safe and not being scared to death every day is way more important to me than kicking the shit out of that dirtbag. He would'nt even go see his mother this past weekend even though he was supposed to by an agreement we made with Social Services and knowing the guy was not allowed there when he was there, because he said the guy showed up three different nights when he was'nt allowed there but they thought my son was asleep and he saw him pull in, heard his mom and the guy whispering and saw him leave the next morning around 5:30am before he was supposed to be up for school. That's how scared and untrusting he is of his mother and that guy. I'll never understand how any parent could put someone before their own child, but to stand by and do nothing while someone is jerking their child around leaving bruises all over and cursing the child like some kind of dog is uncomprehendable. Karma is a bitch and I know those two have a karma train arriving for them shorty 
